Fly-tippers have dumped rubbish in the graveyard of a 'historic' church in Staines .

Passers-by discovered the pile of refuse in the graveyard of St Mary's church in Staines, on Saturday morning (June 30).

The pile, which is thought to have been dumped the night before, contained items of furniture, gardening equipment and kitchenware.

It is unclear at this time whether it will fall on the council or the parish to pay for the removal of the "shocking" fly-tip.

The tip had everything from furniture to an old lawnmower in it (Image: Anonymous)

Reverend Michael Burley, who is the priest in charge of the Parish of Staines, said although the rubbish had been dumped in the graveyard, he thought the council might have to remove it as it owns the land.

He continued: "It is shocking that someone would do this in such an historic and sacred place."

A passer-by who wished to remain anonymous, said they had been walking through the graveyard at about 10.30 am on Saturday morning when they came across the pile.

"When I parked the car I could see this huge pile of rubbish," they said. "The thing about that spot is it's unseen from the road and it's unseen from the church doors."

"It's all household rubbish. We have got to try and do something to deter them from doing this again."

Passersby found kitchenware and gardening equipment in the pile (Image: Anonymous)

They said it was a shame that this had happened in such a 'historic church', and that another passerby had agreed with them.

"It's a historic church you can walk round the grave yard and there's graves going back to the 1600s," they said.

"I think it is wrong that they (the church) could have to pay to get rid of someone else's mess. A lot of churches are strapped for cash."